


The Bittersweet Release of Death

by Kinokochan



Category: SCP Foundation, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Chatting & Messaging, During Canon, Emotional Hurt, Gen, Hurt, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Near Death Experiences, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Texting, Trauma, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2020-04-23 19:59:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19157941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kinokochan/pseuds/Kinokochan
Summary: People say that when you die, it doesn’t hurt.They say that there is no pain.I’ve heard it so many times now.Who are they to speak?They haven’t experienced death.Everything they say is complete lies.After all, I’ve already died. I’ve died too many times to count.I know that it hurts.I can’t put the feeling into words.But, I know what I want to do about it.My name is Watanabe Mariko, and this is my journey to becoming a hero.





	1. Prologue

LOG XXXX, XX/XX/2XXX

 

I found another one. I do not know how to feel about it.

 

I was unlucky this time. The situation was far from ideal. Luckily, I was not caught this time. Seen, yes. But caught? No. This is good. Hopefully, I will not be caught again. I really do not enjoy being caught.

 

I am getting off track. This time, I did not recognize my surroundings. This is odd. Perhaps there is a whole separate area that I have not discovered. Perhaps it was recently added. I will definitely look into this. The shift in scenery did catch me off guard, however. I should work on that.

 

The general aesthetic of this section did not differ from the other one, yet it was easy to tell that I was in a different area, as I did not recognize any of the hallways and rooms. What I did notice, was that the halls were oddly empty. The area was definitely not abandoned, as the chatter of many personnel were audible as I passed many rooms.

 

At first, I had assumed this was a lucky find, as I would have access to many opportunities. And it was lucky. Empty halls, new rooms, busy personnel and no threats.

 

It was not long until I understood how wrong I was.

 

I will not make this mistake again.

 

* * *

 

_Opening her eyes, she looked around. The place was unfamiliar to her. She checked to see that she had everything important on her person. Luckily, she did. Unsure of what being in a new area entailed, she decided to try navigating the place, albeit very carefully. She listened before opening every door, ensuring that she was not going to be caught this time. Oddly enough, she had not heard or encountered any personnel._

 

_She smiled at that fact, feeling giddy at the idea of all the opportunities that arose with this situation. Although, at the back of her mind, she had a nagging feeling that this was too good to be true. Ignoring that feeling, she shrugged and continued exploring. With a spring in her step, she wandered the hallways, looking for a special room._

 

_It was quiet. The only sounds present were her quiet footsteps and her gentle breathing. She smiled at the tranquillity of her surroundings, feeling more at ease than ever before. That feeling of skepticism remained, yet once again, she ignored it._

 

_By now, she had entered a few rooms. Much to her displeasure, nothing of use to her was found. She figured it was natural, as she had gotten quite the lucky find. All she had to do was find what she needed, and she could possibly have the most peaceful run in a long while._

 

_Walking down yet another unfamiliar hallway, she lightly sighed. While it was pleasantly peaceful, and she relished that feeling, it felt… off, to say the least. It had been so long since she had not needed to constantly be on guard. With the sudden change, she couldn’t help but believe it was good to be true._

 

* * *

 

_Although she was supposed to be focused on her task, her mind couldn’t help but wander. How long had it been since she’s seen something new here? Actually, how many times has she even been in this place altogether? She lost track. Definitely a long time though, as she had managed to memorize quite a significant amount of information here._

 

_Actually, when was the first time she’s even been here? Oddly enough, she couldn’t remember. She should have, given that the first time was most likely the most traumatizing time. But it just wouldn’t come to her, as if some sort of wall was stopping the memory from coming to her. Which was strange, as from what she knew, she had no record of ever having some sort of amnesia. Which brought her to the question, why couldn’t she recall something so important?_

 

_How old was she when she first woke up here? Probably young, given her current age._

 

_How many times has she-?_

 

_She pushed that thought to the back of her mind immediately, not wanting to even know the answer to that question._

 

_Feeling significantly gloomier than before, she trudged to the next hallway, unaware of what would happen._

 

* * *

 

_Why didn’t she listen?_

 

_Of course it was too good to be true. What was she even thinking? Of course it wouldn’t be that easy! And now, she’s in one of the worst possible situations she could be in. She was way too tempted to scream in frustration, but that would waste valuable air and time. So, she stifled it down for later._

 

_The blood pounded in her ears as she mentally screamed at herself for being so stupid. A lucky find? Ha, what a joke. Being in a completely unfamiliar area while being chased by people who do know the place like the back of their hand? Sounds pretty unlucky. She knew though, that she had to find a way to overcome this, and fast._

 

_She heard someone speaking over an intercom as she ran. However, she did not listen to what they said, as she was too busy focusing her thoughts on how to get out of this. She could only hear her loud footsteps, her rapid heartbeat and the frantic yells and footsteps of her pursuers. She knew, however, that at that point in time, that was all she needed to hear._

 

_Her lungs burned as she turned yet another corner, her pursuers still hot on her trail. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, helping her ignore the suffocating feeling of her tired lungs and the intense fear. She grit her teeth at her frustration of not currently being able to reach her goal. How long had she been running? It felt like it had been hours._

 

_She had to find a way out, quick. Knowing that if she did not succeed in the near future, she could be in an even worse predicament, gave her the will to keep pushing forward._

 

* * *

 

_Hiding behind a wall as the gunshots rang out in the hallway, she spent a brief moment catching her breath. Glancing down the hallway opposite the guards, her eyes widened._

 

_She had found it._

 

_Except, it was down a hallway that was currently being filled with bullets. Great._

 

_She absolutely did not want to risk that. She grimaced as she realized; she really didn’t have much of a choice, did she? On the occasion that she did not take the chance, she would surely die._

 

_She looked at the cramped area she resided in. A small wooden table, a vent cover that fell from the ceiling, and a chair._

 

_A shield? No, it won’t hold. A weapon? They have guns, that definitely won’t work._

 

_Maybe… a distraction?_

 

_Yes, that could do._

 

* * *

 

_Grabbing the vent cover, she quickly slammed it into the wall, a loud ‘thud’ resounding through the hall. The gunshots ceased, and she could faintly hear the guards muttering to each other. A shuffle of feet approaching, and she struck._

 

_Gripping the chair, she launched it at the unsuspecting guards. As they yelled in shock, she quickly slid the table to obstruct the hallway and made a mad dash for the room opposite the guards. She heard the gunshots but did not flinch. This was the point of no return. Grabbing her card, she reached to unlock the door._

 

_Bang._

 

_She gasped at the instantaneous searing pain in her right knee. Having unlocked and opened the door, she quickly stepped in, hissing at the pain that rocketed through her injured leg. Turning around, she quickly closed the door, locking it. Unluckily, she had gotten a bullet to her left shoulder just as the door closed._

 

_Though it hurt, she had to keep going. She was so close._

 

_She limped to the nearest desk while gripping her shoulder. Noticing the blood staining her injuries, she bit her lip as she went quicker. If she took too long, she’d either be caught or bleed out. Noticing the familiar file, she snatched it up before making her way to the next door._

 

_Unlocking the door, she began reading the file, only glancing up to take a brief glance at the containment before closing the door behind her._

 

_SCP-770 - Keter._

 

_Oh, thank God._

 

* * *

 

_Hearing the previous room being breached, she promptly entered the containment, an instant wave of heat hitting her skin. Making sure to close the door, she approached the safe, opening it to find a glowing flask, the warmth making it harder to breathe. Moving her injured shoulder, she messily folded up the file and stuffed it into her pouch. She already read everything she needed._

 

_Stopping to take a breath, she steadied her hands near the flask and swallowed thickly. The yell from the other room snapped her back to her thoughts and swiped up the flask, hissing loudly. At this point, she wasn’t sure if it was from her injuries or the scalding heat of the metal._

 

_Wincing, she tipped the opening to her parted lips, allowing the radioactive liquid into her mouth. The burning sensation caused her to choke a little, yet she chugged as much of the liquid as she could down. Promptly, her legs gave out._

 

_Her throat burned. Actually burned. She could feel the flesh get practically disintegrated due to the extreme heat. She would have screamed at the intensity of the pain if her vocal cords had managed to survive. She felt the searing liquid gradually slide into her stomach, the burning, unlike anything she’d experienced. It felt as if she was being burned alive from the inside, out. Technically, she was. Tears fell down her cheeks at a rapid pace, strangled noises of absolute misery escaping her lips. It felt so slow, but so fast at the same time._

 

_She wanted it to end. But she knew it wouldn’t. This endless cycle would repeat._

 

_The last thing she remembered was the opening of the door and the guards streaming inside, guns pointed at her suffering body._

 

_And the pain, of course. The searing pain that she knew she’d never escape._

 

_Everything went black._

 

* * *

 

As is natural, I woke up screaming, again.

 

The file has been safely stored, and I have gained more useful resources. I will begin the testing and training procedures as soon as possible. While it was a horrific experience, I am extremely lucky that I had gotten new resources. However, as much as I do not wish to go back there, it is bound to happen. At least I have more resources to collect. I probably messed up their research. I honestly could care less. They deserved it.

 

On the bright side, I am alive and well and have not sustained any injuries, nor have I lost anything of importance. If anything, I have only gained from this experience.

 

If only the pain from the injuries dissipated as well. It will fade with time, at the very least.

 

Signed,

 

Watanabe Mariko

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, so this is my first fanfiction for My Hero Academia (and SCP Foundation), and also my first fanfiction on this site, so I'm kind of new to this. So please be gentle haha!
> 
> Anyways, updates will be pretty sporadic and inconsistent so sorry about that in advance. I hope you liked it, and thank you for reading!


	2. The Origin of Watanabe Mariko

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up, the original characters don't really have an important role in this story (Minus Mariko, of course). This chapter isn't too eventful but I promise it's not filler. So yeah. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“I actually got four hours of sleep? Wow, that’s new. I haven’t had more than 3 hours of sleep in a few months now,” Mariko remarked to herself as she looked at the clock.

 

She had just finished writing in her journal and reading her new file. She stretched in her seat, feeling the tension release from her spine with various pooping noises. She quickly recoiled, however, cursing as she momentarily forgot her ghost pains, only remembering upon moving her shoulder. Massaging her shoulder, she shakily stood up and headed to the bathroom, limping only a little bit.

 

Turning on the faucet, she splashed cold water on her face a few times, hoping to wake herself up more. Gazing at her reflection, she grimaced at the sight that graced her. She was an absolute mess. There were prominent bags under her eyes, she had an unnaturally pale complexion, beads of sweat were on her forehead, and her hair literally looked like a bird’s nest. Sighing as she attempted to run a hand through her hair, she limped back to her room and picked out some clean and comfortable clothes, bringing them back to the bathroom.

 

Quickly setting up a steamy shower, she stepped in and immediately tensed up at the heat, only being reminded of the absolute nightmare she just experienced. “Well, guess I’m having a cold shower today,” Mariko muttered, frowning. Even though she absolutely hated cold showers, she’d honestly rather feel cold over feeling that searing heat right now.

 

Cleaning herself up slowly, as she was still in quite a bit of pain, she slowly felt that heavy pressure lift off her chest, most of the built-up tension dissipating by the time she finished her shower. Quickly finishing, up, she dried herself off before dressing up again. After finishing up her morning routine, she headed to the small kitchen in her apartment and began heating up some leftover pizza she had from the previous night. Sitting down at the counter with her lukewarm pizza and glass of water, she scrolled mindlessly down her newsfeed on her phone while eating breakfast.

 

The majority of the articles were hero-based, as usual. Taking another bite of pizza, she clicked one of the articles, skimming it but not really retaining any information from it. Quickly losing interest, she closed out of the news and pulled up her digital to-do list. She checked for anything of importance, pouting upon realizing that today would be the same mundane day as always. Shrugging, she closed out of the app and pulled up HeroTube, watching random videos to pass the time.

 

* * *

 

An hour passed before Mariko deemed it an ‘appropriate’ hour to be out and about. Granted, 5 a.m. was still quite early for a girl to be out, it was better for fewer people to be around. Throwing on a maroon hoodie and slinging a black drawstring bag on her back, she quietly made her way out of her home. Locking the door behind her and leaving the apartment complex, she headed to her special place.

 

Walking into the nearby forest, she made many twists and turns. She navigated through dense bushes, ducked under low branches, and jumped across a small stream. After a few minutes of travelling the dark woods, she arrived at her destination.

 

There, a small willow tree stood at the base of a steep hill. Pushing apart the branches, she walked under the tree, quickly making her way to the dense area of branches under the tree. Carefully clearing a way for her, she walked into the entrance of the miniature cavern. Seating herself upon one of the flat rocks on the cavern floor and setting down her bag, she stripped off her hoodie, leaving only a brown tank top and black shorts.

 

First, she did a few stretches to relieve the tension in her muscles, afterwards taking out the log book out from her bag. Quickly flipping to page 770, she once again skimmed the document. Pondering for a second, she bookmarked the page with a sticky note before picking up a rock from the floor. Taking a deep breath, she murmured a few words. Almost instantaneously, she felt her body heat up. Frowning at the familiar sensation, she kept her eyes on the small rock. Slowly, it started to corrode, gaining a slightly blue tint as it happened. Humming lightly as the rock crumbled in her hands, she looked down at herself. Having an interesting idea, she spit on the ground. As she predicted, the spit was glowing blue. It appeared to be extremely hot, as she could also hear a quiet sizzle coming from the spit.

 

Deciding she had enough data, she quickly muttered another set of words and sighed in relief as she felt the burning sensation leave her body. Briskly walking back to the rock she left her stuff on, she sat on it, taking a pen out of her bag and writing down her observations on the back of page 770, as it was completely blank.

 

* * *

 

Slipping back into her household an hour later, she headed to her bedroom after grabbing a granola bar from the kitchen. Once she had changed into her uniform, she had sat on the bed, opening the granola bar and taking a bite out of it. Opening her bag and emptying it, she put its contents into a small box that she slid under her bed. Standing up and moving to pack her school bag, she promptly finished the granola bar, discarding the wrapper into the nearby trash can.

 

A few minutes later, Mariko walked out of the house, ready for yet another school day. Walking down the stairs and into the lobby, she was greeted by her caretaker. The man was in his mid-30s, and he had auburn hair, as well as brown eyes. He was average height and was wearing a blue collared shirt under a plain brown sweater, along with beige jeans.

 

“Ah, good morning Mariko. Off to school?” the middle-aged man questioned.

 

Smiling at him, she responded, “Good morning Mr. Hayashi! Yeah, I’m off to school now. Do you want me to buy anything for you on my way back?”

 

“No, it’s alright. I don’t need anything. And how many times have I told you to just call me Akihito?’

 

“Ah, sorry,” she apologized as she headed to the exit. Waving at Akihito, she said, “Alright, I’ll be off now! See you later!”

 

“Have fun at school, Mariko.”

 

* * *

 

Arriving at the school gates early, Mariko began walking up to her classroom, when suddenly, she heard her name being yelled from behind her. Turning around, she pressed her lips in a thin line as she quickly sidestepped. A boy flew past her, face-planting on the floor. He groaned, “Aw, Mari, why’d you have to do that?” “Last time I tried to catch you, Frenchie, I got a concussion,” Mariko pointed out. “True, but still!” The boy whined. A sigh came from behind them. Turning her head, Mariko saw a tall girl. “Isaac, you should know by now to stop flinging yourself at people. Especially in the morning,” the girl reprimanded. “But Mizuki,” he whined, emphasizing each syllable, “It’s funny!”

 

“Isaac.”

 

“Fine.”

 

Mariko snorted at the quick exchange, helping Isaac up. The blonde boy dusted off his clothes, smoothing out his bedhead, not like it did anything. “Come on, Mariko, I thought you wanted to be a hero?” he questioned, crossing his arms and pouting. “I do,” Mariko looked at him. “Then why didn’t you try to catch me?!” he exclaimed. Butting in, Mizuki added, “Maybe because she doesn’t feel like catching someone who purposefully flung themselves at her, expecting to be caught at like, 8 in the morning.” “But still!” the boy protested. “You kind of deserved it,” Mariko teased, as she started heading to class, her two friends following behind her.

 

“You guys are mean,” Isaac pouted.

 

“We know,” the girls chirped.

 

* * *

 

Mariko wasn’t much of a social person, however, the few close relationships she had, she cherished. She was close with her two best friends at school. In fact, they could be described to be attached at the hip, especially during school hours.

 

Nael Isaac, or as he would say it, Isaac Nael, was the transfer student of Mariko’s year. He came from France, and thus speaks French from time to time, whether it be out of habit or to annoy someone. Being friends with Isaac influenced Mariko to learn French, and now, with the help of her friend, is for the most part, fluent.

 

Isaac, dubbed ‘Frenchie’ and ‘French Fry’, is about average height for his age, with a slim build. He has short and messy blonde hair, which is almost a mustard yellow colour. He has pale skin and brown eyes. Many people describe him to have a pretty face. He has a very playful and childish aura, making him an approachable person.

 

Chitose Mizuki was a long-time friend of Mariko’s. They’ve been friends since elementary school, and have a sisterly relationship. Mizuki is extremely protective over Mariko and has been so for many years. She has been one of the main supports in her life and continues to support her. Mizuki was the one who inspired and shaped Mariko’s aspiration and morals.

 

Mizuki, or ‘Mizu’ for short, is quite tall for her age, being the tallest person in her friend group. She has short black hair, which is always styled neatly. She has pale skin and dark forest green eyes which almost always have a gentle look in them. She is a very motherly person, and many people feel more at ease in her presence.

 

* * *

 

Sitting in homeroom, the student representative passed out a paper to each student in the class.

 

“Well, class, it’s time for you to seriously consider your options for the future. The paper should be fairly easy to fill out, but if anyone is confused, feel free to ask me or a fellow classmate for help, alright?”

 

A student in the class suddenly raised their hand. Upon being called on, the student spoke.

 

“Ms. Nakamura, no offence, but why are we doing this? I’m pretty sure that everyone in this classroom already knows what they want to do in the future.”

 

Using this as a valuable moment for a mini-lesson, the blonde, Ms. Nakamura, responded.

 

“Well, Sachi, while having your future planned out is very good, having a backup never hurts. Perhaps something unexpected happens that makes it so that you can’t pursue that dream anymore. If that happens, having a backup plan is always good, so that even if you fall short, you always have another option. Always believing that your plan will always succeed is a recipe for disaster. Having hope isn’t wrong, but if you are so focused on the belief that you’ll always get, the moment you don’t get your way, you’ll be stuck. Whether it be mentally, physically or emotionally stuck, you will still be stuck. And when you get stuck, it will be very difficult to free yourself. Change is inevitable and when it happens, don’t let it paralyze you.”

 

The majority of the class was speechless. Sure, Ms. Nakamura gave some amazing advice, but this was on another level. It felt so real, almost as if she’d made that mistake once before, and was speaking from experience. Secretly, the entire class tucked that speech at the back of their minds, prepared to remember it when the time calls.

 

Smiling as their teacher, the class started to move around and settle in different seats, everyone sitting with their established friend groups.

 

The screech of two chairs sounded from both sides of Mariko. Looking at both sides, Mariko realized that it was only Issac and Mizuki. Smiling lightly at the two, Mariko asked,

 

“Well, do you guys know what you’re going to put down?”

 

“Of course! I’ve been thinking about this for so long. I was thinking, I’d primarily be a voice actor, or something having to do with sound effects, I mean, it makes sense.” Isaac answered. “Although, I'm not really sure on what other options I have.”

 

Mizuki hummed in thought. “Well, you are fluent in multiple languages. Maybe you could be a translator. It is oddly easy for you to learn languages, after all.”

 

Mariko piped up, “Or you could be a telemarketer. I believe persuasion is extremely important in that job. Really, you can be anything that deals with people. You are pretty charismatic.”

 

Grinning, Isaac responded, “Wow! I never thought of that! Merci.”

 

“De rien,” the girls responded.

 

“Well, Mizu, what about you?” Isaac questioned.

 

“Ah, well, I’d preferably become a teacher or anything that has to do with kids, such as daycare. However, if I can't do that, I think I'd make quite a good psychologist, considering how in tune with emotions I am. Besides that, perhaps I could go into nursing.”

 

Isaac snorted. “Wow, Mizu, you got everything planned out. And that empath quirk of yours probably will let you go far in those careers.”

 

Scoffing, Mizuki retorted, “Well, at least I have more creativity in what my quirk could do, unlike you.”

 

Isaac gasped, mildly offended. The two started bickering once again, and, like usual, Mariko tuned them out.

 

The light brunette used this time to think. She really hadn't thought of having any other occupations besides being a hero. And thus, she was at a loss of what to write down. Perhaps a police officer or a doctor? Whatever she does, she wanted to be saving lives. But it was hard to think of jobs that can do that, besides being a pro-hero.

 

Not realizing how spaced out she was, Mariko lightly flinched upon being flicked on the forehead.

 

“Mari, earth to Mari! Can you hear me?” Isaac spoke childishly. Rubbing her neck sheepishly, Mariko stuttered out, “Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, just spaced out a bit.” Being the worrywart she is, Mizuki prodded, “Are you sure, you've been spacing out a lot recently. You might be sick.”

 

Brushing her off, the light brunette assured that she was fine. Mizuki gave her a disbelieving glare but didn't push further.

 

Isaac awkwardly chuckled, trying to break the tension. “So, Mari, what do you want to do, you know, besides being a hero?”

 

Not meeting his eyes, Mariko grinned sheepishly. “Uh, I don't know? I haven't really thought about it before. I mean, since I still want to be saving lives, maybe a police officer or paramedic? But still, it doesn't sound quite right,”

 

“Therapist,” the Frenchie abruptly said.

 

“What?” the girls blurted out.

 

“You could be a therapist. Think about it. While a lot of the time, it won't physically stop a person from dying, it can stop their spirit from dying. I mean, living when you don't feel like there's a point to it is equally as bad as dying. Heck, you could probably stop some life-endangering situations from happening in the first place.”

 

Mariko hummed, thinking. “That… That sound right. I think, if I don't end up as a hero, helping others with their mental health could be the next best thing. Ah, and by following that logic, physiotherapy sounds pretty good too. I can help people live again by helping them gain back what was lost. Yeah. That sounds right.” Looking up at Isaac with a sense of determined resolution shining in her amber eyes, Mariko stated, “Thank you, Isaac. I never would've thought of that.”

 

Ruffling Mariko's light brown locks, Isac smiled, “No problem. Anyways, I'm sure you would've thought of it eventually.”

 

“Yeah, probably not. I have been stuck in an ‘all or nothing’ mindset, so no, I wouldn't have thought of it.”

 

Pouting, Mizuki flicked her finger at Mariko's forehead. “Watch your mouth, young lady, no self-deprecating words here.”

 

“I'm older than you, Mizu!”

 

“Well you certainly don't act like it,” Isaac piped up.

 

“You're less mature than me!”

 

“Now, now Mari, don't be rude.”

 

Mariko groaned.

 

* * *

 

The bells chimed as the trio entered the small cafe. Upon entering, they saw a silver-haired boy with ocean blue eyes hunched over the counter, staring down at the phone in his hands. He donned a simple uniform, a comfortable chocolate brown turtleneck with black khakis. A white apron with blue accents covered his clothes. It had some colourful stains on it, presumably from coffee and icing stains. The boy looked like he was completely lost in his own head.

 

Without looking up, the cashier said unenthusiastically, “Welcome to the Little Treats Cafe, what can I get you today?”

 

Grinning, Isaac ran up to the counter, catching the cashier, who let out a squeak in surprise, in a headlock over the counter. The blonde ruffled the cashier’s hair, the silver-haired boy pouting as he realized who had caught him so off-guard.

 

“Aw, c'mon! That’s no way to greet a friend!”

 

“Jesus fuck don’t scare me like that-”

 

Grabbing the back of the blonde’s shirt, Mizuki pulled him off of the cashier. Mariko earnestly apologized, while shooting a glare at the blonde, “Geez, sorry about that, Ginji. Isaac’s pretty hyperactive, and thus cannot control himself.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know that-”

 

The cashier, Akagi Ginjiro, nicknamed Ginji, not so gently shoved a hand into Isaac’s face, effectively shutting him up.

 

“It’s fine, Mari. Just got a bit surprised. Anyways, you here to order, or what?”

 

“We’ll just have our usual orders please, Ginji,” Mizuki kindly asked, with a gentle smile on her face.

 

Smiling at his friends, the silver-haired boy said, “Coming right up!” as he quickly typed up the order, taking the cash when the trio paid. “You can go sit down guys, I’ll bring your order in a few.”

 

Nodding at him, the three promptly seated themselves at their usual table, making some pleasant chatter. They joked around and complained about upcoming assignments. A few minutes passed, and they all had their orders.

 

Mizuki had made the suggestion of working on their homework, and Isaac and Mariko agreed, as the three of them pulled out their work. The rest of their afternoon passed by with light chatter and a lot of complaining from the French boy. At some point, Ginjiro had joined in, saying he was on a well-deserved break. No one believed him, but oh well.

 

* * *

 

It was well into the evening when the trio separated to head home. Mariko had decided to collect her thoughts by walking the scenic route back instead of taking the train. Sighing to herself, she mulled over the events of her day. While nothing out of the ordinary happened, one specific event was stuck in her mind.

 

The talk about her future.

 

Mariko wanted to become a hero so badly, but she never really thought about the implications of that. Namely, her quirk. She honestly had no idea what to do about that. All the girl knew was that she definitely did not want anyone to know the true nature of her quirk.

 

After all, the last time someone found out… Well, she’d rather not think about it.

 

So that brings her to the question. What exactly was she going to do? She definitely didn’t want to lie about her quirk. That’s probably illegal. But on the other hand, she couldn’t just use all of it. So how would she go about this?

 

Hang on… she couldn’t use _all_ of her quirk.

 

Who’s to say she couldn’t use _some_ of it.

 

Mariko grinned to herself. Yes, that could work. Instead of using the full potential of it, she could just use one part. Now the question is what part? A lot of it was too far dangerous, and she couldn’t learn to control it without putting a lot of things at risk. And on the other hand, a lot of it was pretty useless to hero work. So what could work?

 

Mentally, she mulled over everything she could use in her mind. She could make do with a lot of these. They were pretty useful.

 

Oh, wait. What about…

 

Yes, that would be perfect.

 

Smiling excitedly to herself, Mariko walked the rest of the way with a skip in her step, humming a happy little tune the whole way.

 

* * *

 

It was sometime right before midnight, she knew that. The girl laid in bed, mind swimming with thoughts and emotions she despised. Frowning to herself, Mariko rested her forearm over her eyes, unconsciously letting out a soft groan.

 

She mumbled to herself as her chest started to feel heavy. Her mind was blank, yet overflowing with thoughts at the same time to the point where it was throbbing. Her eyes were shut, but she was seeing too much. Her breaths were even, yet panicked. There was too little feeling. But there was too much feeling.

 

It was too much. It hurt. It hurt so much.

 

It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts

 

Please make it stop.

 

Stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it

 

I don’t want to go back. Don’t make me go back.

 

(What’s the use in begging? It’s inevitable.)

 

It all faded to nothing.

 

* * *

 

A scream ripped through her lips. Her eyes were already filled with tears that she couldn’t hold back.

 

(Since when could she ever hold them back? She couldn’t even hold herself back.)

 

A sob left her lips against her will. Once the first one left, it just kept coming. Frantic breathing accompanied by pitiful sobs filled the air.

 

(How sad. She should be used to this, and here she is, crying like a baby.)

 

The girl let her emotions pour out. So many emotions. It filled the room. It was suffocating.

 

Pain.

 

Anger.

 

Sadness.

 

Fear.

 

Relief.

 

Dread.

 

It was too much.

 

She stood up, still sobbing. Everything hurt. She pushed through it. She limped to her desk and sat down. She pulled out a book. A journal.

 

Picking up her pen, she shakily pressed it to the page, quiet sobs leaving her lips. With a shaky breath, she wrote.

 

LOG XXX, XX/XX/2XXX

 

I hate this. Make it stop. I wish I’d never had this cursed quirk in the first place.


	3. Building Blocks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm surprised. This didn't take me a year to update. Yay.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading!
> 
> CalaMari- Mariko  
> MizuMom- Mizuki  
> CoffeeAddict- Ginjiro  
> FrenchieFry- Isaac

“Alright, let’s get this over with.”

 

Mariko took a deep breath and stood up from the rock she had been sitting on. She was deep in the forest, at a very small clearing nestled between a dense pack of trees and shrubbery. The girl stretched herself out, as it was early morning once again. As she did this, she cleared her mind, trying to mentally prepare herself for what she was about to do. Reaching down to touch her toes, she felt slightly uneasy. She knew what she was doing was a bad idea. If she got caught… she did not want to think about that. Technically, what she was doing was illegal. Mariko grimaced at the thought.

 

This was definitely a bad idea. But the worse idea was not doing this. I mean, it’s safer to actually learn how to control this _thing_ instead of being a law-abiding citizen and risk loads of injury at the exam. Yeah. That makes sense. This was totally a justified thing to do. Definitely. Sighing, the girl frowned. She ran a hand through her hair in frustration. Mariko really did not want to do this, but she didn’t really have a choice, now did she?

 

(Since when did she ever have a choice?)

 

The girl sighed as she said to herself, “Let’s just get this over with.” She muttered something under her breath quietly and immediately felt her ears start ringing. It was an irritating noise, high-pitched and piercing. It made her head throb, and she grimaced at the pain. Mariko placed a hand to her head and shut her eyes as she slowly lowered herself to the ground and sat there. When she had become fully accustomed to the phantom pains, she slowly peaked her eyes open and tried moving around a bit, to test if she was fully stable again. It had been a while since she’s done this, she noticed. She frowned to herself, realizing that she’d have to get used to this again. She shook her head. She was getting off topic.

 

“Okay, so this hurts. Oh well. I’m probably just rusty,” she mused to herself. She silently wondered if she could still do this correctly. A sudden thought came to her head. “Oh. This might be a really bad idea. Well. Can’t be certain until I try,” she shrugged.

 

Taking a deep breath and bracing herself, Mariko suddenly felt something. It was barely there, almost unnoticeable compared to the phantom pains. But she couldn’t just ignore the familiar sensation. Almost like splitting something. It always freaked her out, but it’s not like she could control it. Mariko started to focus. She tried to pull on that sensation. She tried to hone in on the sensation. Slowly, she felt more sensations coming in. Sensations that she shouldn’t have been able to feel. But she did. But the girl ignored that fact. She tried to focus even more. She tried to feel more. And then it came to her. That subconscious awareness. She knew where she stood, but also where she didn’t stand. She knew where she was, but also where she wasn’t. She knew what surrounded her, but what didn’t surround _her_.

 

She thought. Not of what she wanted to do, not of where she wanted to go. But she thought of movement. Movement from where she wasn’t. Moving to where she was. She felt everything. She was aware of what didn’t surround her. She shouldn’t be aware, but she was. She knew what was coming, but not which was coming. So she waited. Waited for it. She felt it’s presence. It was almost there. She heard footsteps. It came closer and closer. It stopped. It stopped right in front of her.

 

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes. There it was, right in front of her.

 

She stared, and it stared back. Amber met amber. A silent connection was made through their gaze.

 

Mariko parted her lips and quietly spoke.

 

“It’s been awhile.”

 

She was answered with a nod. The being in front of her was silent, only staring, it seemed like it didn’t want to speak. Acknowledging this, Mariko gently smiled at it, realizing that it had no intention of harming her. She sat down on the grass, looking up, holding its gaze.

 

“Sit down,” she gently commanded, and it followed.

 

It was acting distant. She realized that. She had to fix that. Biting her lip, she asked,

 

“Are you the only one?”

 

A nod. Mariko hummed to herself quietly. It seemed that it refused to speak, but didn’t want to disobey her. Trying her luck, she decided to ask a question that forced it to verbalize an answer.

 

“What should I call you?”

 

Silence. One would assume it just refused to speak, but Mariko knew better. She knew it was thinking. So she patiently waited for an answer. A minute passed. Finally, it opened its mouth to speak.

 

In a quiet voice, one that was oh-so-familiar to Mariko, it answered,

 

_“Alpha.”_

 

“Alpha, huh? So I’m assuming the other ones are Beta and Gamma, right?”

 

_“Yes.”_

 

“Okay, I can work with that. How are you feeling?”

 

Alpha looked unsure.

 

_“...Alright.”_

 

Mariko sighed lightly,

 

“It’s weird being back, isn’t it?”

 

_“...Yes.”_

 

The two fell into a comfortable silence. They just sat there in the grass, in their own little world. They stayed like that for who knows how long. After a while, one of the two spoke. To Mariko’s surprise, it wasn’t her.

 

_“Why?”_

 

Mariko hummed. “What do you mean?”

 

_“Why am I back? Why are we back?”_

 

Running a hand through her light brown hair, she responded to Alpha,

 

“I needed you. I need you. All of you.”

 

_“Why?”_

 

“Because I want to be a hero.”

 

_“...”_

 

“...”

 

_“Oh.”_

 

Mariko nodded. “Yeah. I know. You don’t have to do this for me. None of you have to do this for me. I won’t force you to. Just say the word, and we can stop this.”

 

With that, they fell into silence. One contemplating, one relaxing. Mariko laid down. Grass tickled the sides of her face. She still felt Alpha’s presence, but it didn’t bother her. It was nice. For once, in a very long time, she felt peaceful. Deep down, Mariko wished things could stay like this.

 

(She knew it was a stupid wish. She didn’t deserve peace.)

 

_“Hey… Mariko?”_

 

 _“_ Yes, Alpha?”

 

“I’ll do it. I’ll help you. The others told me that they’ll help too.”

 

Mariko grinned.

 

“Well then. We’ll start training soon. For now though,” she stood up, dusting herself off. She looked at Alpha with a slightly feral grin.

 

“I gotta get to school.”

 

Alpha grinned right back, saluting Mariko.

 

_“Gotcha.”_

 

Mariko started heading back to her apartment, leaving Alpha alone sitting on the grass. As she whispered another set of words under her breath, she faintly heard Alpha mutter,

 

_“It’s nice to have you back, Mari.”_

 

* * *

 

 **CalaMari** is online

 

 **FrenchieFry:** MAAARIIIII

 **FrenchieFry:** HELP EVERYONES BEING A MEANIEEEEE

 

 **CalaMari:** What

 **CalaMari:** Did

 **CalaMari:** You

 **CalaMari:** Do

 **CalaMari:** Isaac

 

 **FrenchieFry:** what nothing

 

 **MizuMom:** He broke a chair in the cafe.

 

 **FrenchieFry:** cmon mizu why

 

 **CoffeeAddict:** you know youre paying for that

 

 **CalaMari:** wtf Fenchie

 **CalaMari: *** Frenchie

 

 **CoffeeAddict:** omg FENCHIE

 

 **FrenchieFry:** please dont

 

 **MizuMom:** ok fenchie

 

 **FrenchieFry:** MIZU no

 

 **MizuMom** has renamed **FrenchieFry** to **FenchieFy**

 

 **MizuMom:** Mizu yes.

 

 **CalaMari:** Omg Mizu I just choked on air-

 

 **CoffeeAddict:** coffee just came out of my nose

 

 **FenchieFy:** Why are you so mean to meeeeee (ಥ_ಥ)

 

 **MizuMom:** why did you decide to break a chair

 

 **CoffeeAddict:** OOF

 

 **FenchieFy:** omg shut up

 

 **MizuMom:** make me

 

 **CalaMari:** iM wHeEzInG

 

 **CoffeeAddict:** sAmE

 

 **MizuMom:** teehee

 

 **FenchieFy:** dont you tEEhEE mE

 **FenchieFy:** ANYWAYS

 **FenchieFy:** whens youre entrance exam for ua again mari?

 

 **CalaMari:** *When’s

 **CalaMari:** *your

 **CalaMari:** *UA

 **CalaMari:** *Mari

 

 **FenchieFy:** sHuT uP

 

 **CalaMari:** :)

 **CalaMari:** Oh and it’s in a few months or something

 

 **MizuMom:** Really? Are you ready?

 

 **CoffeeAddict:** yeah I heard that the exam is super difficult, you sure you’ll be good?

 

 **CalaMari:** Yep. I’ve been training for a while now. I’ll be fine.

 

 **FenchieFy:** wait have you even told us what your quirk is???????

 

 **CalaMari:** ;)

 **CalaMari:** Anyways gtg cya

 

 **CalaMari** is now offline

 

 **FenchieFy:** ok but srsly what is her quirk

 

 **CoffeeAddict:** yeah she didnt ever tell us

 

 **MizuMom:** Oh well. We’ll find out eventually.

 **MizuMom:** Anyways, I have to go. Bye guys.

 

 **CoffeeAddict:** same. Ttyl

 

 **MizuMom** is now offline

 **CoffeeAddict** is now offline

 

 **FenchieFy:** wow you didnt even let me say bye.

 **FenchieFy:** bye

 

 **FenchieFy** is now offline

 

* * *

 

Mariko lounged around on the couch, flipping through the channels in boredom. While she could be doing something productive, like training for the exam, she was lazy. And she embraced that fact. The girl sighed as she flipped through the channels a tad slower.

 

“Geez, there’s nothing interesting on today.”

 

“I know, right?” Alpha agreed. Alpha laid her legs over Mariko’s lap, munching on some chips absentmindedly. She held the bag up, as she called, “Anyone want some chips?”

 

A call came from the kitchen, “What flavour?”

 

Calling back, Alpha responded, “Barbeque!”

 

Suddenly, two pairs of footsteps could be heard from the kitchen, accompanied by a “Hell yeah!”

 

Sitting down properly to make space for the two girls, Alpha scooted closer to Mariko. Two girls filled the vacant space on the couch, one flipping over the back of the couch, one calmly going to sit.

 

“Gimme, gimme,” the girl who flipped over the couch said, making grabby motions with her hands. The other girl slapped the back of her head, scolding her, “What do you say, Beta?”

 

Pouting, Beta rolled her eyes as she said, “Please,” dragging out the first e. She was met with a glare. “Oh come on, Gamma,”

 

“Say it properly.”

 

Beta huffed but gave in. “Fine. Alpha, may I please have some of the chips?”

 

Gamma smiled, “Good.” Alpha passed the chips over to Beta, groaning.

 

“There’s nothing to do,” Alpha complained.

 

Agreeing, Beta began complaining. Annoyed by their behaviour, Gamma started to scold the two. This only lead to a loud mess of a conversation. Mariko ignored all of this, nonchalantly flipping through channels. Suddenly, she stopped, interested in what was showing on the news. But, due to the noise, she could not hear anything coming from the TV. So, she did what any other person would do.

 

“Would you all just shut up for one moment!” she yelled over everyone.

 

Not wanting to further anger Mariko, the three girls promptly shut up. Realizing she was trying to watch what was on the TV, they directed their attention towards it. The four watched the screen intently, taking in the information dump that was given to them. Honestly, they had no idea why they were so interested in this specific event, but, they’d figure it out. Alpha hummed,

 

“A sludge villain, huh?”

 

Gamma nodded, “And a kid running in recklessly. A quirkless one at that.”

 

Beta commented, “That takes guts. I kind of feel bad though. The heroes are scolding him, the one who tried to do something when they themselves didn’t, and they’re praising the victim who only added to the destruction. I mean, I get that it was panic, but still.”

 

Mariko was silent. She mulled over something in her head before speaking.

 

“Do you think he knew?”

 

Beta munched on a chip, looking at Mariko curiously, “Whaddya mean, Mari?”

 

“I mean, do you think he knew how close to death he was? By running out there, he practically was begging to die.”

 

“...Ah,” Gamma whispered.

 

“Does he know how stupid that is? I get that the other boy was at risk, yet he went in without a plan. In the end, he was so close to getting killed. Hell, if the villain was angered enough, I’m sure the other boy would’ve died quicker. But everyone lived. Do you think he knows how lucky he is that no one died, including him?”

 

There was a grim look in Mariko’s eyes. She looked pained to say that. Realizing that this was only hurting Mariko, judging by the tears that threatened to fall, Alpha gently pried the remote out of her hand. She changed the channel.

 

“Let’s watch something else.”

 

* * *

  

One week before the exam. One week to prepare.

 

The four girls stood in their usual spot in the forest. In Mariko’s hands was a notebook. She was muttering under her breath. The other three girls were just staring at her. Alpha, deciding to go snap her out of her little bubble, walked up to Mariko and flicked her forehead.

 

“Wha-”

 

“Mari, you were mumbling again.”

 

“Oh- sorry.”

 

Gamma waved a hand at her nonchalantly. “It’s no problem. Instead of apologizing, why don’t you tell us what you were mumbling about?”

 

“Ah, I’m just making sure we’re prepared for the UA entrance exam. So far we’ve learned to communicate mentally, be in touch with each other’s surroundings, I’ve figured out how to pick and choose where you land, and you’ve honed your abilities. Can you think of anything else we need to get done before the exam?”

 

The three girls hummed as they thought. Alpha’s face lit up suddenly, however, and she spoke,

 

“What about a plan?”

 

Beta tilted her head in confusion. “A plan?”

 

Alpha nodded, “Yeah. I think we need a plan.”

 

Gamma’s eyes widened in understanding as she let out a quiet ‘oh’. “I get it. We’ve been working so hard on getting stronger that we haven’t even thought about what we’re going to do during the exam. So we should probably think of that.”

 

Mariko sat down cross-legged on the grass and flipped to an open page in her notebook. “A plan, huh?” she mused to herself. Smiling at the others, she motioned for them to sit down, and they did. She pulled out a pen and spun it around her fingers. It was a mechanical, but smooth motion, repeating consistently with no errors. It seemed like second nature to Mariko. With a strange gleam in her eyes, Mariko said,

 

“Well then, let’s get started.”

 

* * *

 

It was time. The morning of the entrance exam. And of course, Mariko Watanabe, the genius, decided to pull an all-nighter. So, to say the least, she was practically dead on her feet. She was tired. So, so tired. But she’d push through it. She had to. The girl had experienced worse before, after all. She’d be fine during the exam.

 

However, she was not fine right now.

 

She was currently slumped over at the dining table, face first against the wooden surface. The only indication that she was actually awake was the soft groan that escaped her lips. Alpha sat beside the miserable girl. She looked worried. “Hey, Mari? Are you absolutely sure that you don’t want to sleep? You still have some time to spare.” A louder groan escaped Mariko’s lips. “I told you, Alpha, I’m fine.” Beta, who was currently on the ground in a straddle position to stretch, retorted, “You sure don’t look fine, Mari. Seriously. At least do something besides look miserable at the table.”

 

“Fine,” Mariko whined.

 

She sat up straight and stretched, her back popping a few times. Gamma had joined Alpha and Mariko at the dining table, placing a mug of coffee beside the latter.

 

“Well then, let’s go over the plans one last time?”

 

Currently, she was taking the written exam. And, so far, it was actually quite simple. She smirked to herself, satisfied that her plan for this portion of the exam was working pretty well. She had come to a history question that she couldn’t answer. She didn’t have to worry though. A few seconds after she had absorbed all the information, a voice rang out in her head.

 

It was Alpha, feeding her the exact answer to her question.

 

She quickly wrote it down.

 

In hindsight, it was quite a smart plan. It was also a plan that wouldn’t be considered cheating. After all, some people probably have quirks that either give them this knowledge, or quirks that force them to learn and memorize all of this. Using quirks wasn’t against the rules for this exam. If others could use their quirks to their advantage, why couldn’t she?

 

With that in mind, she had prepared a system over the past weeks.

 

To lessen the amount of information she had to memorize, she took advantage of the fact that herself, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma all had separate memories and consciousnesses, and they could feed each other these memories, and they could share their consciousness with each other. It was weird, but it worked. Anyways, she made a system where each person would study a few different subjects. Mariko herself studied science and English.

 

However, with this method, there are a few downsides. The main one is that in order for Alpha, Beta, and Gamma to telepathically communicate the answers to Mariko, they had to be physically present. And since she obviously couldn’t have the three in the room without being too obvious, she had to make a compromise.

 

So, just before the test started, she made sure they were hidden in a good spot.

 

In her mind, Mariko heard Beta’s voice ring out.

 

 _‘Hey Mari, are you almost done? This bathroom stall is really stuffy and crowded with all three of in here’_ she whined.

 

Well, if Mariko just so happened to let out a quiet snicker at that, no one had to know.

 

* * *

 

The rest of the exam went smoothly as expected. Currently, Mariko was sitting in the auditorium enthusiastically talk about the practical exam she was about to take. She had taken in as much of the information as she could, letting the other three girls, who just so happened to still be squished in a bathroom stall, take in the information as well.

 

As she was informed of the villain point system, which she already read about, she went over the roles each girl would play in her head. Mariko herself would be practically useless, but she had figured she could do something. So, she basically was running literal damage control. She’d also be in charge of keeping track of the points the others managed to earn.

 

And, just like that, everyone suddenly stood up and started leaving the auditorium, heading to the bus that would bring them to their designated battle center. Mariko quietly swore to herself, realizing that she had accidentally spaced out and missed everything past the information on one, two, and three-pointer robots.

 

The voice of Gamma echoed in her head.

 

“Don’t worry, Mari, we listened to everything you missed. Start heading to the bus for battle center F. We’ll tell you what you missed on the way.”

 

Standing up, Mariko nodded, seemingly to herself. She quietly muttered, “Gotcha, I’m on my way.”

 

* * *

 

Mariko stood in front of the extremely tall gate. She mused to herself, “Geez, UA really goes all out, huh?” Stretching her arms over her head, she sighed, “Well, no matter, only makes it easier to stay away from each other. She quickly went over her plans in her head, relaying the information to Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, who were already in the fake city, waiting for the exam to start. The trio ensured that they wouldn’t be caught inside the city before the exam started by cleverly hiding in the blind spots of the cameras. Each girl was located in a certain area in the city, far away from the other girls. They each had a zone, and they each made sure that they wouldn’t enter each other’s zones.

 

With a smile, on her face, Mariko whispered, “Well, here goes nothing.”

 

The gate opened.

 

And she ran.


	4. Operation: Triple Threat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's been awhile. Sorry for not updating in a while. No promises of a new chapter soon, sadly.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!
> 
> And, like, don't be afraid to comment or anything. Comments really motivate me to continue writing! :)

It was complete and utter chaos. A battlefield. So much was going on, robots were going down quickly and there was so much destruction. Mariko got caught up in it all. And she couldn’t do anything. By herself, she was effectively useless in battle. Pressing her lips in a thin line, she spoke. It looked like she was speaking to herself, but in reality, she was speaking to the three girls that she was connected to; Alpha, Beta and Gamma.

 

“Alright. Operation: Triple Threat is a go.”

 

In her head, she heard the voices of Alpha, Beta and Gamma ring out, saying one word in perfect sync.

 

“Affirmative.”

 

* * *

 

Alpha ran out of her hiding spot, scouting for nearby robots. She listened closely and immediately headed towards the first robot she could hear. As she approached the alleyway it was located in, she had identified it as a two-pointer. Narrowing her eyes, she focused on it. The robot spotted her and began charging, with the intent to destroy. Most people would run, or dodge.

 

But she wasn’t most people, was she?

 

So she stood there, not backing down.

 

Taking a deep breath, the girl closed her eyes and parted her lips. And then she screamed. But it wasn’t a normal scream. No, it was a noise that shouldn’t come out of anyone’s mouth. A noise so high pitched and loud that it could cause permanent damage to anyone who hears it. 

 

It threw the robot off, that’s for certain. The sound pressure had definitely caused damage, yet that wasn’t concerning. The actual concerning part was what happened after that inhuman scream ended. The robot was growing tumors. By all means, that should be impossible. Yet, this inorganic machinery began growing organic tumors all over. The tumors must have grown inside as well, since a few seconds after the rapid growth of those disgusting, fleshy ear-shaped tumors, very few of which were bleeding, the robot fell over, seeming destroyed and irrecoverable. It was a disturbing sight to see. These tumors had spread to the point of covering the entire surface of the two-pointer. To any normal person, it would look like a slightly bloody mass of flesh and ears, smelling like a dead animal. It was so unnatural. 

 

All of that gruesome process took place over a span of ten seconds.

 

Alpha simply smiled at her work, seemingly unaffected at the disturbing nature of the scene, saying out loud, “Two points.”

 

Turning around to look for another robot to destroy, Alpha was met with a three-pointer running right at her. In a fit of panic and pure instinct, Alpha shut her eyes tightly and let out an unrestrained shriek, higher-pitched and louder than the previous one. The shriek lasted several more seconds than the previous one as well, Alpha only stopping when she realized that she was safe and that she had reacted on time. Upon opening her eyes, Alpha was met with the sight of yet another fleshy mass of ear-shaped tumors, blood seeping out of many more tumors than in the two-pointer. 

 

Sighing in relief, realizing that she had reacted in time and was safe, Alpha quickly scurried off to find another robot, mentally keeping track of the newly acquired points.

 

* * *

 

Running away to escape a three-pointer that the girl could not take on, a blonde girl named Takahashi Akane, ducked into a nearby alley to catch her breath. After closing her eyes and taking a few breaths in an attempt to regulate her breathing, she turned around.

 

There, the girl saw two giant masses of flesh and blood.

 

Muffling her mouth in an attempt not to scream and to not gag, she turned away. She was completely disgusted. What in the world were those… _things_? Whatever they were, and whoever made them, shouldn’t be here.

 

Someone with such a villainous quirk shouldn’t be here.

 

Why is this _villain_ here?

 

What makes this… monster believe that they deserve to be here?

 

_It’s so unfair._

 

_It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair It’s so unfair_

 

They don’t _deserve_ to be here.

 

With tears in her eyes, a rapid heartbeat, and a furious look in her eyes, Takahashi Akane turned back around and ran back into the open street, deciding to fight the robots over looking at the monstrosity behind her. 

 

She didn’t look back.

 

* * *

 

She heard it. The total destruction happening around her. Yet, she still ran through the back alleys in an attempt to find more robots to eliminate. As of now, Beta had managed to gather up a total of seven points. Honestly, she was quite worried. She knew how flawed this makeshift plan was.

 

There was no way that they could get away with this. Seriously. If they somehow managed to not look suspicious, well that would be absolutely hilarious. But let’s be real. Out of everyone, they probably looked like the most suspicious people.

 

Sighing, Beta ran toward a nearby one-pointer. Releasing a cry that sounded suspiciously young, she jumped onto the robot’s back, the flesh on her back tearing to make way for a new set of arms. Reaching in between the robot’s protective metal plates with her new set of hands, Beta grabbed the inner workings and _pulled_. The one-pointer frantically tried to shake the girl off of its back, to no avail, as Beta made sure to firmly grip the robot with her original set of hands. She kept pulling and dislodging the one-pointer’s inner workings in an attempt to fully stop the robot from functioning. Biting her lip to stifle to cry of pain that threatened to escape, Beta ignoring the searing pain coming from her fresh set of arms. Scraps of sharp metal scraped the sensitive skin, and the broken wires shocked her at the slightest touch.

 

_It hurt._

 

But the girl didn’t let that stop her. She pushed through the pain. She did it for Mariko. This was the only way she could make it up to her. After all the pain that she had gone through, the pain that she had caused, it was only fair that her dreams came true. And Beta would be damned if she didn’t do everything in her power to help her. She owed it to Mariko.

 

So as the one-pointer finally collapsed, despite the shredded flesh of her arms that used to be pristine and perfect, despite the burning sensation that came from being shocked a multitude of times, Beta smiled. 

 

She smiled for Mariko.

 

It all came back to Mariko.

 

* * *

 

Jumping across rooftops, the wind blew through Gamma’s hair. Her eyes scanned the streets for a robot that wasn’t already destroyed or in the process of being destroyed. She was growing increasingly frustrated with the slowly dwindling number of robots. Eyes darting back and forth as she scanned the street below her, she noticed an orange-haired girl knocking out a two-pointer with a giant fist. As the robot went down, successfully earning the stranger two points, Gamma mused to herself.

 

‘Huh. Reminds me of Beta. Speaking of beta, I wonder how everyone’s doing.’

 

Looking back at the orange-haired girl with giant fists, three voices rang out in her head, all voicing a number. Nodding to herself, Gamma suddenly noticed a three-pointer that had snuck up directly behind the girl she was watching. And it appeared that the girl didn’t even notice it.

 

In a fit of desperation, she ran off the edge of the roof, quickly plummeting towards the robot. At the top of her lungs, she shrieked,

 

“Hey, you with the big fists, watch out!”

 

A split second after she said that, she noticed the girl turn to see the three-pointer right behind her. Right as the orange-haired girl, who she just noticed had really pretty teal eyes, turned around, Gamma went crashing headfirst straight into the robot. However, instead of being stopped by the metal plates of the robot like most people, Gamma went flying straight through it, effectively crushing most of the inner mechanisms, and by extension, destroying it. And while Gamma had successfully gained three more points, now having fifteen points in total, she most likely had a broken nose, having faceplanted straight into the concrete ground after speeding straight through the three-pointer. Ouch.

 

Eh, at least she got three points. That was considered a win in her book.

 

And as much as she wanted to get up and continue looking for robots to destroy, she was lazy. Quickly tallying up everything in her head, she realized that technically she didn’t even need more points. So instead of getting up like a normal person, Gamma continued to lie face-first on the asphalt, one thought in her mind.

 

_‘I could really go for some Chinese take out right now.’_

 

* * *

 

To be frank, Kendo Itsuka was stunned. 

 

One moment she’s destroying a two-pointer with the help of her quirk.

 

The next moment she hears a girl tell her to watch out and turns around to see another two-pointer right behind her, about to strike.

 

Then, right before she’s hit, she sees a blur barrelling straight through the robot, destroying it and saving her in the process.

 

Blinking as her mind caught up with the event that just occurred, Itsuka turned her teal eyes in the direction the blur went. Her eyes landed on a body just lying face-first on the ground. She briefly panicked, but stopped once she realized the body was indeed breathing and alive. Upon closer inspection, she noticed it was a light brunette girl and assumed that she was the one who had told her to watch out.

 

Quickly striding towards the girl, Itsuka eyed her in worry.

 

“Hey… Are you okay?”

 

The girl groaned, only causing Itsuka to worry more. She was contemplating whether or not she should just pick her up and find help when she murmured loud enough for her to hear.

 

“I’m fine… Just give me a moment.”

 

Nodding to herself, Itsuka looked on in worry, deciding to stay and check up on the girl over finding more points. After a few seconds, the light brunette stirred, slowly pushing herself up with no struggle. After dusting herself off, she turned to face Itsuka. The first thing that Itsuka noticed was her bleeding nose. She immediately started to fret over the girl, however, she had been simply waved off, the brunette assuring her that she was fine.

 

Honestly, Itsuka was not convinced, but she let it slide.

 

Suddenly, the brunette blurted out a question.

 

“Hey, what’s your name?”

 

Without missing a beat, Itsuka responded. She was met with a grinning girl, who proceeded to wave at her while taking a step back.

 

“Well, then, see you around, Kendo Itsuka!”

 

And just like that, the stranger spun on her heel and sprinted away.

 

The moment that she was out of sight, Itsuka realized.

 

She never got her name.

 

* * *

 

Mariko cursed as she dodged yet another robot’s attack. Running past it, she quickly ducked into a nearby alleyway. Not stopping for even a minute to breathe, she ran through the winding alleyways, trying to find her way back into an open area with other people.

 

Mentally, she cursed at herself. I mean, right now, she was completely useless. Going up against giant robots while being effectively quirkless is basically a death wish. Mariko was just lucky enough to be in that exact situation.

 

Finally finding an open area with a few other examinees, Mariko ran into the area, finally stopping to catch her breath. But sadly, she just couldn’t catch a peaceful break. Turning her head, she looked around, only to be met with a one-pointer right about to hit her. 

 

And it was too late to dodge.

 

Falling over in a mixture of terror and fear, Mariko squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the most likely fatal blow. Imagine her shock when she felt her body being yanked to the side, successfully saving her from the one-pointer. She heard a crash, and then it was silent.

 

Well, it was as silent as a battleground filled with robots and teenagers allowed to show off their quirks could be.

 

But never mind that. Mariko almost died. She almost died somewhere that wasn’t her dreams. She almost died what she assumed to be a permanent death. Sure, she probably could’ve stopped her death, but would she have been fast enough? Would she even be able to activate the part of her quirk that could save her? What if she couldn’t? What if she hadn’t been saved?

 

What if she had actually died?

 

Everything was too fast, she had decided upon opening her eyes. It was too bright. It was too loud. It was too much. She couldn’t breathe. When had she started hyperventilating? She was scared. Her vision was blurry. Her eyes were hot. Was she crying? 

 

She needed to breathe. Why couldn’t she breathe?

 

Suddenly, she felt pressure on her head. It had started to move in circles, comforting her just a bit. She felt a hand gently grip her wrist, positioning her hand over something warm. It was slowly but steadily moving up and down. Faintly, she heard a gentle voice.

 

“-need you to breathe with me. Can you do that?”

 

Feebly, Mariko nodded, trying to get her breathing under control by matching the breathing motion under her hand. It was shaky, but a bit better. She wasn’t suffocating. With her head a bit clearer, she had identified the pressure on her head as a hand. It was still there, rubbing comforting circles on her scalp. She heard the voice again.

 

“You’re doing a great job. Keep breathing with me. In. Out. In. Out.”

 

Nodding again, Mariko kept trying to steady her breathing.

 

It took a minute, but soon she was calmer. Not fully stable, but getting there. She heard a sigh.

 

“Calm?”

 

The light brunette nodded.

 

“That’s good. Are you okay to continue, or do you just want to stay here?”

 

She slowly mustered up the courage to speak.

 

“I… I think I just want to stay here. Can you stay with me?”

 

Without missing a beat, the voice replied, “Of course.”

 

Now that her mind was mostly clear, Mariko took the time to look at the person who helped her. It was a girl. She had long green hair and black eyes. The girl sported a wide jaw and was quite thin. In Mariko’s opinion, she was very cute. She kind of reminded her of a frog.

 

“I’m Asui Tsuyu. What’s your name,” she asked while tilting her head. Mariko shyly responded, telling the frog-like girl her name.

 

“It’s very nice to meet you, Watanabe, but I wish it was under better circumstances.”

 

Nodding in response, Mariko gathered up more courage to speak and responded in a more confident voice.

 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Asui.”

 

“Please, call me Tsu.”

 

Smiling shakily at her, Mariko responded, “Well then Tsu, call me Mari.”

 

Tsuyu nodded, opening her mouth to respond when she was cut off by the ground rumbling.

 

The two girls looked around, Mariko asking, “Do you know what that was, Tsu?”

 

The greenette shook her head, “No, I don’t, but it’s probably not good.”

 

Nodding her head at Tsuyu, Mariko responded, “Then we probably shouldn’t stick around too long.” She stood up, albeit quite shakily. Tsuyu followed her lead, both of them looking for what could’ve caused the rumbling.

 

And then, at the exact same time, the two girls saw it. The robot that towered over absolutely everything in sight. The zero-pointer. Mariko’s eyes widened at the sight. She looked at Tsuyu.

 

“We need to run.”

 

Tsuyu nodded at her, turning around so her back faced her. Mariko, understanding what the greenette was implying, quickly climbed onto her back, positioning herself so that she would be comfortable.

 

As Tsuyu leaped up to the rooftops, Mariko broadcasted one thought to Alpha, Beta and Gamma.

 

‘It seems like there’s a change of plans. Operation: Evacuate and Escape is a go.’

 

Three voices spoke, ‘Affirmative.’

 

It all went unheard by Asui Tsuyu.

 

* * *

 

“Hey Tsu?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Do you think that some people got stuck? There’s a whole lot of debris.”

 

“... As much as I hate to admit it, most likely.”

 

“Wanna help them?”

 

“How?”

 

“How about this…”

 

* * *

 

“Someone surrounded by debris at three o’clock, Tsu.”

 

“Got it.”

 

“Jumping in three.”

 

Mariko counted down. The moment she said ‘zero’, she jumped off of Tsu’s back, landing near a purple-haired examinee who was surrounded by debris and struggling to get past it. Tapping the boy on the shoulder, she asked him,

 

“Hey there, need a lift?”

 

“What? Uh- sure?”

 

“Okay,” Mariko chirped, bending down and lifting him bridal style. The boy, flustered from the sudden gesture, sputtered and squirmed. Mariko understood why he did that, but she tightened her grip, saying, “That’s a bad idea, buddy. You might want to hold on.”

 

And suddenly, they were yanked to the sky, courtesy of Tsuyu. The purple-haired teen, not expecting it, squeaked, wrapping his arms around Mariko’s neck and holding on for dear life. Noticing his shock and fright, Mariko consoled him, saying, “Hey, you’re okay. I’m not gonna drop you.”

 

In an attempt to distract him, Mariko tried to start up a conversation.

 

“My name’s Watanabe Mariko, what’s yours?”

 

Shakily, the boy responded, “Shinsou Hitoshi.”

 

Frowning a bit, she said, “Hey, Shinsou, loosen up. We’re not going to drop you. Look around at the view. Just... breathe.”

 

Nodding, Shinsou took a deep breath and looked around. He had to admit, it looked quite nice from up high. And the breeze was calming. Loosening his grip around Mariko’s neck, he relaxed.

 

“See, you’re okay,” Mariko reassured, realizing that Shinsou was relaxing. Shinsou nodded, and the three went silent for a few minutes.

 

Tsuyu spoke up. “We’re about to land. Brace yourself.”

 

The two nodded, and luckily, they had a smooth landing. After Tsuyu’s tongue let Mariko go, the brunette put Shinsou down.

 

Dusting himself off, Shinsou said,

 

“Please never do that again.”

 

Mariko nodded.

 

“Noted.”

 

And a familiar voice rang across the battle center.

 

“Time’s up!”


	5. Mariko's Hero Academia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahaha this took awhile. Not gonna lie, this chapter was really hard for me to write, and it's definitely not my best. Also shorter than usual. But I hope you like it anyways!
> 
> CalaMari- Watanabe Mariko  
> FroppyFrog- Asui Tsuyu  
> SleepyKitty- Shinsou Hitoshi  
> FenchieFy- Nael Isaac  
> MizuMom- Chitose Mizuki  
> CoffeeAddict- Akagi Ginjiro

DURING THE PRACTICAL - OBSERVATION ROOM

 

**“Okay, start!”**

 

The UA staff got comfortable in their spots, eyes fixated on the screens, ready to watch the next batch of potential Pro Heroes in action. Each member of the staff waited patiently for the chaos to begin.

 

Upon Present Mic explaining how real life had no countdowns, everyone sprung into action. Left and right, robots were going down, examinees rushing to eliminate as many of the closest robots they could find.

 

On a single screen, one showing the side opposite the entrance to battle center F, a robot went down.

 

A robot that shouldn’t have been encountered this early into the exam. No examinees should have been on the opposite side of the center yet. But somehow, one- now two robots were destroyed within two minutes of the exam starting.

 

While most teachers hadn’t noticed the unusual occurrence, one of them had managed to see what happened and was quick to point it out to the other teachers.

 

“Hey, did all of y'all see that?” Snipe questioned the others.

 

Genuinely curious at what he was referring to, the principal, Nezu responded, “What did you see, Snipe?”

 

Pointing at the screen, the Hero answered, “That one-pointer right there, it’s on the opposite side of the arena. No one should be over there that quickly.”

 

“Hold on,” Thirteen pointed out. “One went down over there, too.”

 

“Oh my God, what happened to the robot over there!” Power Loader exclaimed, gesturing to the robot that had been covered in tumours.

 

“Nezu, what’s going on? Unless there were multiple people with teleportation quirks, that shouldn’t have happened,” Midnight asked.

 

Nezu hummed. “I believe that is the work of examinee number 4525. If you are curious, go ahead and read her file.”

 

“Nezu, it says here that her quirk is, and I quote, ‘Living Dream,’ and it’s description is, ‘I dunno, it’s a weird eldritch abomination, who knows what it does? It’s weird, still, dunno how it works,’ is that even allowed?”

 

Nezu did not respond, simply smiling as he sipped his tea.

 

This year was going to be interesting, that’s for sure.

 

* * *

 

**CalaMari** is online

 

**Unknown:** Hello. Is this Watanabe Mariko?

**Unknown:** It’s Tsu.

 

**CalaMari:** Ah, hi Tsu!

 

**Unknown:** How are you?

 

**CalaMari:** I’m good :)

**CalaMari:** How about you, Tsu?

 

**Unknown:** I’m doing good as well.

**Unknown:** But what I meant was, are you okay mentally? After what happened during the exam.

 

**CalaMari:** oh.

**CalaMari:** I’m doing alright now. I guess the close call with the robot really spooked me. I’ll be fine.

 

**Unknown:** That’s good to hear.

**Unknown:** But if you ever need to talk about it, I’ll listen.

 

**CalaMari:** Thanks, Tsu.

**CalaMari:** Anyways

**CalaMari:** I wanna give you a nickname cuz I think we’re friends now

**CalaMari:** Any ideas?

 

**Unknown:** First, yes, we are friends now

**Unknown:** Second, my hero name is going to be The Rainy Season Hero: Froppy. I’ve been thinking about it since I was a kid.

**Unknown:** Maybe you can use that?

 

**CalaMari:** Oooooooo that’s perfect!

**CalaMari:** Ah! I know!

 

**CalaMari** has renamed  **Unknown** to  **FroppyFrog**

 

**CalaMari:** How’s that?

 

**FroppyFrog:** That’s perfect, Mari.

**FroppyFrog:** Thank you.

 

**CalaMari:** Anything for a friend, Tsu.

 

* * *

 

PRESENT TIME - THE WATANABE APARTMENT

 

“Oh my God, it’s here!” Beta screeched, scrambling into the living room and promptly tripping, face planting into the wooden floor. 

 

Sighing, Gamma asked, “What’s here, Beta, the 100 assorted rubber ducks you bought online?” Alpha snickered, saying “Like, seriously, I have no idea how you even convinced Mari to spend 5000 yen on rubber ducks. They’re not even good quality.”

 

Taken back, Beta sputtered, “Wh- Hey! I’ll have you know rubber ducks are a perfectly acceptable thing to spend 5000 yen on! And no, it’s not the ducks, it’s the UA letter!”

 

The two girls choked. “Oh shit, the UA letter,” Gamma whispered.

 

“Fuck, Mari, the UA letter’s here!” Alpha called.

 

“What! Holy fucking shit!’ Mariko cursed as she scrambled out of the kitchen, wearing an apron. There were flour and batter all over her, but no one paid any mind to it. Snatching up the letter from Beta, all four girls scrambled over to the couch, eager to see the results.

 

Mariko stared at the letter in her hands, eyes wide. Beta poked her, whining, “C’mon Mari, open it! I want to see what our score was!” Alpha and Gamma nodded in agreement, also excited to see what their score was. Mariko waved them off, muttering, “Hold on, hold on, I’m basically holding my hopes and dreams in my hand, I’m kind of freaking out.” Patting Mariko’s back, Gamma murmured, “Hey, hey, it’ll be fine. I’m sure we’ll pass. The points we got should be more than enough. And besides, even if we didn’t make it, we could always go to other schools, like Ketsubutsu or Shiketsu.” 

 

“Yeah,” Alpha started. “You know very well that no matter what that letter says, we’ll get there somehow. Even if we have to become vigilantes, you know that nothing could stop you from saving others.”

 

Beta hummed, “Come on, Mari, I’m absolutely certain that we did amazing! And if for some reason, we don’t get in, well, screw them!”

 

Mariko still looked unsure of herself. She took a deep breath. “Yeah, yeah you’re right. Sorry, guess I’m getting some last-second nerves. Alright, here we go.” Closing her eyes, Mariko took a deep breath. Alpha, Beta and Gamma all looked on in excitement.

 

She opened the letter.

 

* * *

 

**CalaMari** is online

 

**Unknown:** Hey.

**Unknown:** Is this Watanabe Mariko?

 

**CalaMari:** Uh… hi? Yeah, it’s me

**CalaMari:** Who is this?

 

**Unknown:** Shinsou Hitoshi.

**Unknown:** You kinda helped fling me into the air during the exam.

 

**CalaMari:** Oh, right.

**CalaMari:** Sorry about that.

 

**Unknown:** It’s fine.

 

**CalaMari:** tbh, I didn’t actually think you’d text me when I gave you my number.

**CalaMari:** but I’m happy you did! It’s nice to get to know someone who I’ll hopefully be going to school with! It’s less scary, ya know.

 

**Unknown:** I’m probably not gonna get in, though.

**Unknown:** Didn’t get any points.

 

**CalaMari:** ah…

**CalaMari:** well, do you think you did well on the written portion?

 

**Unknown:** I think so

**Unknown:** it wasn’t that difficult.

 

**CalaMari:** Well, if you make it into general studies, I read somewhere that you could transfer into the hero course if you did well enough in the sports festival, so there’s that

 

**Unknown:** huh. Didn’t know that

**Unknown:** thnx

 

**CalaMari:** np

**CalaMari:** ah, right! I forgot!

 

**Unknown:** what?

 

**CalaMari:** name something you like

**CalaMari:** it can be absolutely anything

 

**Unknown:** uh idk

**Unknown:** cats, maybe?

**Unknown:** why

 

**CalaMari** has renamed  **Unknown** to  **SleepyKitty**

 

**SleepyKitty:** why

**SleepyKitty:** out of all names why that

 

**CalaMari:** cuz you said you like cats

**CalaMari:** and you look like you haven't slept in a few days

**CalaMari:** plus, I give nicknames to all my friends

 

**SleepyKitty:** friends?

 

**CalaMari:** yeah, friends!

**CalaMari:** ah, unless you don’t wanna be friends.

**CalaMari:** I can change your name to something else if you want

 

**SleepyKitty:** its fine but

**SleepyKitty:** why do you want to be friends? You dont know my quirk

 

**CalaMari:** I don’t see why that should matter

**CalaMari:** I mean, I don’t see why your quirk would change my opinion of you

 

**SleepyKitty:** what if i had a villains quirk

 

**CalaMari:** define villains quirk

 

**SleepyKitty:** a quirk that does more harm than good to others

 

**CalaMari:** o shit

**CalaMari:** guess i have a villains quirk

**CalaMari:** you learn something new every day, i guess

 

**SleepyKitty:** what

**SleepyKitty:** what even is your quirk

 

**CalaMari:** idek at this point

**CalaMari:** i do know it involves an ungodly amount of eldritch abominations and bodily horror so

**CalaMari:** id say judging by your definition its pretty villainous

 

**SleepyKitty:** wtf

**SleepyKitty:** you know what

**SleepyKitty:** i dont wanna know

 

**CalaMari:** does that mean we’re friends?

 

**SleepyKitty:** …

**SleepyKitty:** You’re really weird, but sure.

 

* * *

 

A small metal disc fell out of the envelope.

 

“Eh?” Beta said. Squinting at the disc, Mariko gently picked it up. Inspecting the disc, Mariko wondered aloud, “Huh. Does this thing play sound or something?” Suddenly, a flash of light and a burst of sound came from the disc, startling the four girls. Mariko yelped, dropping the disc onto the coffee table.

 

“I am here as a projection!”

 

“Holy shit.”

 

Watanabe Mariko passed the entrance exam, with 70 total points; 25 rescue points and 45 villain points.

 

Watanabe Mariko would attend UA’s hero course as the 21st student of class 1-A.

 

* * *

 

**CalaMari** is online

 

**FenchieFy:** MARIIIIIII

**FenchieFy:** YOURE BACK!

 

**MizuMom:** How did the exam go, Mari?

 

**CoffeeAddict:** did you kick ass?

 

**CalaMari:** It went well.

**CalaMari:** I kicked robot ass, not human ass.

 

**CoffeeAddict:** good.

 

**MizuMom:** Do you think you’ll make it in?

 

**CalaMari:** I’m not sure, actually. I wasn’t as good as some of the other examinees.

 

**MizuMom:** I’m sure you’ll be fine, Mari. You worked very hard for it.

 

**CalaMari:** Thanks, Mizu.

 

**FenchieFy:** Wait, did anything interesting happen?

**FenchieFy:** Spill the tea sis

 

**CalaMari:** Well

**CalaMari:** I almost died twice.

**CalaMari:** Once by a robot who almost crushed me

**CalaMari:** And once by a robot taller than Mt. Lady

**CalaMari:** And I had a panic attack mid-exam.

 

**MizuMom:** I’m going to fucking burn UA to the ground.

**MizuMom:** Who’s with me?

 

**CoffeeAddict:** Me

 

**FenchieFy:** Me

 

**CalaMari:** gUYS NO

 

**MizuMom:** They almost killed you twice and gave you a panic attack. They deserve it.

 

**CalaMari:** But then I won’t get to school with my new friends!

 

**MizuMom:** ...

 

**CoffeeAddict:** …

 

**FenchieFy:** …

**FenchieFy:** We won’t burn UA if you add them to this chat.

 

**CalaMari:** Deal.

 

**CalaMari** has added  **FroppyFrog** and  **SleepyKitty** to  **The Hellsquad**

 

**SleepyKitty:** wtf is this Watanabe

 

**CalaMari:** Call me Mari

**CalaMari:** Oh and introduce yourselves.

 

**FroppyFrog:** Hello. I’m Asui Tsuyu, but you can call me Tsu.

 

**SleepyKitty:** Shinsou Hitoshi.

 

**CoffeeAddict:** Akagi Ginjiro.

 

**FenchieFy:** Bonjour! I’m Nael Isaac.

 

**MizuMom:** Chitose Mizuki. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.

 

**CalaMari:** Y’all already know me

 

**SleepyKitty:** ok so answer my question

**SleepyKitty:** wtf is this Mari

 

**CalaMari:** oh yeah

**CalaMari:** Tsu, Shinsou,

**CalaMari:** Welcome to hell, I hope you have a nice stay here.

 

**SleepyKitty:** oh god save me

 

**CalaMari:** :)

 

* * *

 

“Hero costumes, huh?” Mariko muttered to herself, gently pulling on her lip in thought. She hadn't actually thought of what she wanted to look like as a hero. She squinted at the mostly blank sheet of paper, save for the measurements written out in the top left corner of the paper. It was hard to think of a design, so she started with the basics. Sketching out a basic silhouette, Mariko’s mind began to wander.

 

While a flashy costume like the ones in the pre-quirk era comic books is what most costumes looked like now, it wasn’t quite Mariko’s style. No, she was more practical. Finishing up her silhouette, Mariko pulled out her phone and searched for some inspiration, starting with Pro Hero costumes in general, then branching out to more Underground Heroes. But, she still didn’t find anything that felt… right. 

 

So in a last-ditch effort, the girl searched up female Halloween costumes. Cringing at how bad most of them looked, she scrolled down the page, skimming through the results. After a few seconds of scrolling, her eyes stopped on a certain costume.

 

It was a police uniform. The costume was mostly blue and had a black midsection, which kind of resembled a corset. The model was wearing fishnet stockings and black heels. But, while not as revealing as some other costumes Mariko had seen, it was still stupidly impractical.

 

To be frank, the costume was absolute shit.

 

But it made her think.

 

In her dreams, sometimes she encountered guards. She remembered that what they wore look practical, while not very stylish. But, she saw potential there.

 

Scratching the back of her neck, Mariko racked her brain for ideas.

 

And all of a sudden, an idea she quite liked popped in her head.

 

Smiling, Mariko pushed the pencil on the paper and began to draw.

 

* * *

 

_ Everything was black. Everywhere she looked, there was only darkness, stretching on for what looks like eternity. Empty space.  _

 

_ It was soundless. She couldn’t hear anything. She tried to speak but made no sound. _

 

_ She tried to scream but made no sound. _

 

_ Nothing. _

 

_ No never-ending hallways. No guards who were out for blood. No creatures who would keep killing. None of what she has been experiencing for the past ten or so years. _

 

_ Nothing. Absolutely nothing but pitch black. _

 

_ Honestly, it was kind of terrifying. _

 

_ But from her past experiences, standing around would only get her killed. _

 

_ So, she walked. _

 

_ Step by step, wandering through a vast expanse of nothing but black. _

 

_ She furrowed her brow. What was this? This wasn’t like anything she’d ever experienced before. _

 

_ If anything, she should feel peaceful, relaxed. _

 

_ For the first time in ten years, she didn’t have death breathing down her neck. _

 

_ So why did it feel so wrong? _

 

_ It started as a dull throbbing in the back of her skull. She paid it no mind as she kept walking forward. Perhaps it was just a headache. Her mind was moving awfully fast, trying to comprehend what was going on. _

 

_ But then the hum started. It was a low, guttural sound. She felt it in her very bones. But as she kept walking, layers of the humming began appearing, increasing in pitch and volume. _

 

_ It sounded so wrong. _

 

_ Suddenly, she felt a stabbing pain through her chest. The ringing was everywhere. _

 

_ It hurts it hurts  _ **_it hurts._ **

 

**_Then, she fell._ **

 

_ A silent scream tore out of her lips. _

 

_ Voices rang out loudly, layering over themselves, each saying different things. _

 

_ They rang out simultaneously, creating a cacophony of noise. _

 

_ It was too much, she couldn’t understand what was going on. _

 

_ Just make it stop- _

 

**“What would you like to name her?”**

 

**“Mari. Her name is Mari.”**

 

Watanabe Mariko woke up crying.


End file.
